


herpetology and marine biology

by spookysp_ace (summermoonsdawn)



Series: we're an aquarium [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Aquariums, Dad Daichi, Flirting, Fluff, M/M, a very large one, and it's daichi, daichi as a dad, herpetologist iwaizumi, i mean... what did y'all expect, iwaizumi has taste for men in cargo pants, marine biologist daichi, plis love him, seiya is adorable, sry i once again don't know how to tag, they work at an aquarium, well one man
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-04
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:27:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25063120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/summermoonsdawn/pseuds/spookysp_ace
Summary: Someone's kid is lost. And Hajime is there to lead said kid back to where he came from.Because, really, how did a kid wander from the Aquatics department all the way to the Reptiles department?
Relationships: Iwaizumi Hajime/Sawamura Daichi
Series: we're an aquarium [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1815187
Comments: 14
Kudos: 129





	herpetology and marine biology

**Author's Note:**

> heyyyyyyy thank @Not_MrDarcy for this one. and i'm using the excuse that it's my birthday to write some self indulgent marine biologist Daichi (once again) stuff with Iwaizumi just being like O.O at first i guess.
> 
> i have another part i'm working on too. maybe it'll post it tomorrow, it'll be relatively short like this one too
> 
> also: hope y'all are staying safe (or as much as you can with shit going on), please be careful and take care of yourselves <3

Seiya was lost.

In one moment his daddy had turned around, said something to one of his coworkers–

_ Was that the word? _

No matter, he couldn’t remember. But his dad had said some quick words, many that Seiya didn’t understand because he was  _ four _ –like physiology, ecology, and species–all words that were  _ very  _ boring. And  _ oh!  _ The fish had looked so pretty down the hall! The lights on the edges of the floor lead him away from the aquatics section as he followed a couple of angel fish, swimming right alongside the glass. Going and going he went and–

Well.

Now he was lost.

This was certainly not the shark exhibit where his dad had been. There was glass, yes, but there were not gallons of water behind them. Instead of the dark full eyes of a shark staring back at him, there was a snake coiling in a circle large enough to be over triple his length! Maybe quadruple! 

“Hey kid,” a voice rumbled from far above, “Where’re your parents?”

Seiya looked up. A man peered down at him before crouching to be at Seiya’s level. His hair was spikey–why hadn’t his dad told him he could wear his hair like this?–and his eyes were the color of moss balls. He’d know, his dad had pointed out the moss balls in their own home aquarium. He looked kind of like Godzilla.

The man raised his eyebrows, and Seiya, unsure, promptly started crying.

“ _ Wait!  _ Fu– Uh, shh, shh,” the man started consoling, before patting Seiya’s back. He looked around, with a moment of allowed alarm. The only other people around were a few kids from a local school class peering into the komodo dragon exhibit with their teacher. The teacher looked over with zero concern so  _ no _ that wasn’t Seiya’s place of requirement. Then there were a couple of parents who looked on at the man as if to say  _ that’s how you console a child? _

Hajime sighed.

This isn’t how he thought this day was going to go. Honestly. The aquarium he worked for had numerous and various places housing animals of aquatics, reptiles, amphibians; the aquatics department was unveiling a newly constructed addition to their shark hall, so he’d expected most of the business to be there. Not  _ here _ with a kid whose parents were  _ nowhere in sight. _

“My–my daddy, hnn,” the kid cried, big tears welling up in his eyes. Hajime let out a slow breath, before reaching to wipe at the tears.

“Shh, it’s okay,” Hajime lowered his voice to a soothing rumble, “Where’s your daddy?”

“He–he talk and, and, he splash,” the kid started to ramble, with a panicked look overtaking his tears. “Daddy  _ where?” _

_ Splash?  _ Hajime wondered.

“We’ll find him,” Hajime said. The kid allowed him to take his hand. “What’s your name?”

“Sei–Seiya!” He said with mute confidence.

_ Seiya.  _ He tried to remember if he’d heard any of his co-workers in the reptile department speak of their children, and if they’d said the name. None came to mind immediately.

“Okay Seiya, you said your daddy splash?”

Hajime was starting to be real grateful he’d had two younger brothers, and then Oikawa’s younger nephew, that he’d often help look after. Coaching kids at volleyball camp during the summer didn’t hurt a bit either.

The kid, Seiya, nodded. “The fishies! We, he–he show–him show fishes!”

“He showed you fishes, huh?” Hajime asked.  _ In Aquatics then.  _ Likely, Seiya’s father had brought his kid for the unveiling of the new exhibit and in the crowd, Seiya had wandered off. “Let’s go then, we don’t want your dad to get worried do we?”

Seiya nodded again. His dark hair, curling up on the ends, bobbed with the movement. The wells of tears that had been there had slowed down, but his cheeks were puffy and red. Hajime took the edge of his sleeve and rubbed it over the kids face, making sure to get the lingering tears. “No worries, okay Seiya? We’ll find your dad, I promise.”

His movements were still panicky. With quick thought, Hajime reached into his back pocket for his phone. The back of the Godzilla case looked back at him.

“You like lizards, Seiya?” He asked. 

Seiya’s eyes widened. “Like dragons?”

“Uh… sure. Like dragons,” he said. He took Seiya’s small hand and placed his phone there. Seiya’s attention was at once completely enraptured by the dark kaiju. “Keep holding onto this until we find your dad, m’kay? It’ll protect you.”

“Keep safe?” Seiya’s tone was soft but intrigued. 

“Right, safe.”

Fingers, caped by baby softness, took Hajime’s phone. Seiya stared at the phonecase in wonder. With his attention drawn Hajime began to lead them on their way.

After that Seiya was fairly accommodating. He followed Hajime back through the entrance of Reptiles, loosely pointing in the direction and pointing at spots he remembered. 

The facility Hajime worked at had three large areas of interest for the public. Each department usually just called as such between workers: Rainforest, Reptile, and Aquatics. While the Reptile department he worked in remained the smallest of the areas, it wasn’t by much. The Aquatics was by far the largest and took a majority of the tourists and was the reason most people visited, with absolute reason though. Aquatics had a penguin habitat, sections based on biomes and the local marine life for each biome, a dolphin lagoon, another section over the marine life focused just in the Sea of Japan, plus a jellyfish gallery, a conservation lab and–likely now the prize of the Aquatics department–was the newly refurbished and expanded shark hall. 

Thinking about it, when Seiya said “fishies” he could have meant literally anywhere in over half of the facility. 

“Okay Seiya, we’re going to head to the sharks,” Hajime started. “Do you remember the sharkies?”

“Sharkies…” Seiya mumbled, grip on Hajime’s hand growing tight. “Daddy likes sharks!”

“Great. We’ll start there then.”

If someone would have told him when he woke up that he would be leading a kid through the halls of his work, he wouldn’t have believed them. Well, if it were Matsukawa or Hanamaki he wouldn’t have believed them. Kyoutani might have said it, with that habitual tone of his, and Hajime  _ might  _ have thought about it for more than a couple of minutes.

They passed into the main foyer and rest area. Hajime continued to wonder how this kid had made his way to the opposite side of the facility when part of the building was separated by an outdoor landing. There was a walkway to the coral pools and straight out was a magnificent view of the nearest beach and it’s turquoise waters. Some of the waves could even be heard over the crowd passing between facilities. 

It was a beautiful facility, but it was no wonder that one step in the wrong direction could have had Seiya going from the sharks, to the penguins, and when he thought he was going back to the shark he may have wandered into the reef room. 

Still, on a day like this, Hajime couldn’t help but feel like the unknown father should have kept a better eye on his son. Through the hustle and bustle of the ever-crowded aquatics department, they’d rather easily made their way into the heart of the shark hall. Seiya was scooched close to Hajime’s legs, peering around.

_ Daddy where?  _ Seiya thought.  _ Everyone tall! _

Hajime heard the kid huff below him. With quite a noticeable pout, the kid opened his mouth–

“ _ Seiya _ !” a franic timbre called.

“Daddy!” Seiya let go off Hajime before leaping into the arms of–

_ Aha, fuck. _

Seiya’s dad was none other than a very, unfairly hot, man in a pair of cargo shorts and a dark blue hoodie that read  _ Sawamura Daichi, Aquatics. _

_ Normal people aren’t supposed to look  _ good  _ in cargo shorts!  _ His brain screamed.

The kids dad wasn’t just some normal tourist though who’d come for a vacation break.

No, oh god no. Seiya’s dad was the head researcher in the conservation lab for sharks. He was a marine biologist. He was, well,  _ Dr. Sawamura Daichi _ , who he’d heard spent over five years in Australia for some of that research.

Did Hajime mention he was hot?

“Seiya, what did I say about running?” Sawamura looked all over Seiya, checking for nonexistent inflictions or damage. “Daddy said no running, no wandering, remember? We’re only here to check up on some things today.”

Seiya heaved more tears. Sawamura tucked the crying boy into the juncture of his neck and shoulder. The man closed his eyes for just a moment, hugging the child close. Low cooing and soft words were whispered to the boy until Seiya calmed but he still had a tight clutch on his dad.

Only a moment later, Sawamura opened his eyes. His gaze was a dark pool, heavy with clouds of rain. As they settled on Hajime they cleared with relief, just as his body relaxed from former tense muscles.

“Thank you,” he said. His voice used to calm the child rippled over Hajime in a tingling sonorousness. 

“Ah, ha,” Hajime cleared his throat. He placed his hands on his hips before looking away from the father and son. “It’s not a problem. Happy to help.”

“Let me pay you back?”   
  


_ Pay me back?  _ “No, no, really. I’m just glad he found his dad.”

Hajime felt the man’s eyes still on him. He heard him shift as he stood, and from the corner of his eyes he saw him hold Seiya on his hip–Seiya, fast asleep.

“You work in Reptiles.”

Hajime turned at this, then looked down at his uniform. His own name was printed in the corner of his long sleeved black top. Underneath his name read  _ Reptiles _ in a bold white font.

“What made you think that?” He said on instinct.

Then promptly wanted to smack his head into one of the glass walls of any of the aquariums around them.

He was sure Sawamura would narrow his eyes, probably turn away in hopes that his kid never had to be around Hajime again. Maybe he’d tell the director of the facility that people like Hajime, brooding and stern, shouldn’t be working in place that had mostly  _ kids– _

A laugh.

Sweet, baritone. Low and in the back of his chest. It rumbled in the space between them where Iwaizumi had created the sureness that the man would turn away.

  
“Sorry, sorry,” Sawamura started. He ducked his head with the phantom movement of a hand scratching at his cheek, or rubbing across the back of his neck, burning Hajime’s stare. With both of Sawamura’s hands occupied in holding Seiya, neither of those were possible. “That came off dull. I haven’t seen anyone from Reptiles in a while–and, well, I think I’d remember you.”

_ There,  _ across Sawamura’s cheek was a smattering of red and it pushed right to the edges of his eyes.

Hajime’s chest clenched on sight.  _ Is this flirting? _

If Oikawa were around then he’d definitely be laughing at him.

Hajime blinked at him, mouth agape, before promptly closing it. With a tight grip of his hands on his hips, he steadied himself–

“How about, a coffee?” Hajime asked, trying to ignore the rapid trip of his heart. “For payback, of course.”

Sawamura blinded Hajime with a smile. The man, just a hair shorter than Hajime tilted his head just a tad. “Mm. Instead of payback, why don’t we call it a date, Iwaizumi?”

The gods were surely playing with his day.

It was Hajime’s turn to tilt his head, composing his caught breath. “A date you shall have, Dr. Sawamura.”

“You can call me Daichi.”   
  


_ Daichi, _ his mind whispered.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> i apologize for any mistakes. i only read over it like twice.
> 
> scream about daichi and kurodai with me? sometimes kurosemi? mostly just daichi though? occasionally iwaaka? i'm always happy to chat about rairpairs. anyways:
> 
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/spacedaichi)
> 
> kudos and comments always welcome friends <3 <3


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